The present invention is directed generally to an improved wood-form splice stake for concrete forms and to a carrier for a stack of such stakes. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an improved wood-form splice stake having a lower end adapted to be driven into the ground and an upper end provided with a pair of flanges extended outwardly therefrom in opposite directions for detachable connection to the adjacent ends of a pair of aligned wood-form boards for supporting the boards and maintaining them in alignment.
In the formation of large concrete surfaces such as for streets, driveways and the like, a side of the concrete surface is defined by a plurality of aligned wood-form boards. The most common support for the form boards is simply a 1.times.2 wooden stake which is driven into the ground and then nailed to the rear surface of the form board. Two or more such stakes are placed in spaced-apart positions between the ends of each form board. These wood stakes are generally used for one application and are then discarded afterwards whereas the form boards are reused. The prior art also includes metal stakes having a number of nail holes predrilled in them. These are used just like the wood stakes but are reusable.
The above-described prior stakes were not used at the joint between two forms. Accordingly, when a heavy vibrating screed is traversed along the form boards for smoothing the concrete, one form may tend to sink under the weight of the screed whereupon a ledge is formed blocking forward movement of the screed onto the next form board. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved wood-form splice stake which is operable both to support a wood-form board and to prevent relative vertical movement between a pair of adjacent wood-form boards.
Other somewhat complicated concrete form stakes have been proposed but these generally require some type of special fittings on the wood-form boards for receiving the stakes and accordingly are not usable with conventional plain wood-form boards.
Another problem associated with support stakes for concrete forms is the time and effort required for collecting and carrying them. Generally, a pile of stakes is simply thrown into the back of a truck. After travel across a construction site, the stakes are generally all over the truck. Since it is very time-consuming to count all of the stakes needed for a given job, stakes are often left behind unknowingly resulting in continuous replacement costs even for the metal stakes.
Accordingly, a primary object of the invention is to provide an improved wood-form splice stake.
Another object is to provide an improved wood-form splice stake having flanges outstretched in opposite directions for securement to the adjacent ends of aligned form boards for both supporting those form boards and maintaining them in alignment.
Another object is to provide an improved wood-form splice stake which engages the adjacent ends of a pair of form boards to prevent relative vertical movement between them.
Another object of the invention is to provide wood-form splice stakes which have a cross-sectional shape adapted for stacking the stakes in nested relation for compact storage and transport.
Another object is to provide a carrier for supporting and carrying a plurality of stacked stakes.
Another object is to provide a carrier designed to carry a predetermined number of stakes so that the operator knows the number of stakes in a full carrier without counting them.
Another object is to provide an improved wood-form splice stake and carrier which are simple and rugged in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and efficient in operation.